We've heard some talk about a 4K ARRI camera, and even a rumor about a 6K 65mm camera from the company, but nothing has really materialized until now (mostly because they haven't felt it was necessary). The first 4K camera from ARRI will not be a new model, but a software update to the AMIRA that will let it shoot internally to ProRes at 3840 x 2160 UHD up to 60fps. The AMIRA, which has recently started shipping and is being used extensively by NFL Films, will get the software update by the end of 2014. But what about the fact that the AMIRA and the ALEXA share sensor technology and ARRI doesn't yet have a 4K sensor in their cameras?

From their press release, the company is apparently upsampling the 3.4K sensor in their camera to 3.8K (cameras that don't ship with the update will need to be recalibrated):

For major feature films, an up-sample to 4K can be carried out after visual effects and other postproduction tasks have been completed at 2K resolution. For certain fast-paced AMIRA productions, however, there may not be the time or resources for such processes in post, which is why a 4K or UHD output direct from the camera has been requested.

AMIRA’s UHD output utilizes the same efficient 1.2x up-sample filter that allows ALEXA’s Open Gate mode to optimize the camera’s image performance for 4K distribution, as well as the same best-in-class sensor pixels. The up-sample to UHD happens in camera, and in real time.

This page on their site also seems to suggest that you may be able to send out a UHD signal from the camera at some point:

It's been mentioned that the 16:9 AMIRA has the same sensor featured in some ALEXA models, but a few things could be happening. Either the sensor has always been 4:3 and they've simply called it 16:9 when the hardware wasn't capable of more, or there are different 16:9 and 4:3 sensors that both feature the same 3.4K resolution. It's more likely that it has been the same 4:3 sensor that has been limited in certain models due to the internal hardware.

Here is ARRI talking about their Open Gate mode on the ALEXA XT, which ARRI is saying is the same thing happening internally with the AMIRA UHD update (the AMIRA is probably being cropped to 16:9 or 1.78 from the full 1.55:1 aspect ratio):

Here is a look at the different recording areas of the ALEXA, showing the full sensor area outlined in black:

Even though they may have 4K in the works in a different model, ARRI is offering this now since it's something other cameras already have and certain productions actually want:

While widespread adoption of 4K or UHD for broadcast is still a long way off, an increasing number of content owners are becoming concerned that they ought to safeguard the longevity of their programs by ensuring that they will be suitable for UHD transmission, should that become a standard in the future.

For those productions that do need to generate UHD deliverables, AMIRA will now offer the ability to record all ProRes codecs in Ultra High Definition 3840 x 2160 resolution directly onto the in-camera CFast 2.0 cards, at up to 60 fps. This feature, activated through an affordable software license (and a sensor calibration for existing AMIRAs), comes in response to feedback from AMIRA customers, some of whom have been quizzed about 4K deliverables by clients. It is made possible by the camera’s exceptional image quality, its processing power, and its reprogrammable system architecture.

Whether a production is pursuing a UHD workflow all the way through to distribution, or simply wishes to archive in UHD in order to future-proof itself against industry developments, AMIRA now offers an easy solution that requires no additional processes in postproduction.

And here is who's using it (I'm sure NFL Films could also get some use out of it):

Wildlife cinematographer Rolf Steinmann, who was nominated for an Emmy Award this year in recognition of his work with ALEXA on the BBC’s Wild Arabia series, is currently using his AMIRA on a movie for Disney Nature. He comments, "For cameramen like me who own their gear, the UHD upgrade is a great way to stay future-proof. From now on when there's pressure from the production side to deliver UHD, I can continue to work with AMIRA and won't have to compromise on image quality or on the camera's robustness and reliability."

Even though ARRI is upsampling to get to UHD, it's only a slight upsample from their original pixel resolution, and plenty of cameras have done this in the past to get to 720p or 1080p, like the Panasonic HVX, some JVC models, and many more. The ALEXA has looked so good up to this point because ARRI has focused on giving better pixels, rather than just more pixels, and they've been downsampling quite a bit for even their 2.8K RAW mode, which gives sharper and cleaner images in the end. By going the opposite direction, they are now pushing their sensor in other ways. The Open Gate mode for the XT was meant more as a VFX or repositioning tool with some downscaling later, but this UHD ProRes recording is using this entire sensor natively to give you a 4K output.

Since the AMIRA is aimed more at broadcast, and broadcast for much of the world isn't at 4K yet, most of this material will still benefit from a downscale when it's shown at 1080p. It would certainly be interesting to see ARRI's 4K implementation and how that compares to other cameras that have native or (in the case of RED) much higher than 4K resolution. There is no doubt ARRI has fantastic engineers, so it would not be surprising in the least if a sub-4K image was still on-par, or even better, than some cameras that actually feature 4K or higher sensors.

It's unclear when we'll see a 4K model from the company, but there are obviously enough users asking for it that ARRI felt the need to enable it internally in one of their models.

Right, essentially affordable to only rental houses and a small percentage of owner/operators, and those somewhere in-between like NFL Films, though obviously a much more affordable rental for shows that want ARRI and 4K, or want the AMIRA for a specific reason.

This is pretty cool. Even though I've only done one 4K finish job so far, I love shooting 4K and being able to crop for an HD finish. Very, very useful and really opens the possibility for post options. Too bad the image is up-sampled a little bit, but still... not a huge deal since most people just use the extra resolution to crop in HD.

One thing I've noticed on my FS700 + 7Q combo is that an identical shot in HD vs 4K, when the 4K is down sampled, the noise grain is considerably smaller than something shot in HD. Another plus for 4K.

I have a feeling a lot more indy features will be shot on the Amira since it's a more "affordable" (use that word lightly) Alexa, so more people will probably own / rent and be able to get the coveted Alexa look.

I've been using the amira all week, and I'm just pleased as punch. This UHD upgrade is really going to be interesting, I'm eager to see the results. I had wondered about this when it launched toward the "broadcast" world - where 4k switchers and setups are becoming more and more normal.

3424 x 2202 = 7.5MP, so basically only a 10% blow up to 8.3MP in faux UHD ... the only thing is that Amira is doing a 1.55 native ratio but various TV productions will want a 1.78, so they would either use anamorphic lenses or blow it up more. A 1.5 anamorphic will give a cinematic 2.3'ish. Are there 1.2's out there?
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BTW, I bet Alexa II will have a "real" 4K/6K sensor ... whenever it comes out.

Considering it's all being done in-camera, I highly doubt they would do anything but a 16:9 crop of the full sensor and then a blow-up from there. Saving people time doing the upsample in camera just to take time away by forcing them to crop from 1.5 would be kind of a waste in my mind. They already have Open Gate for the XT, so the AMIRA isn't likely to get too much more capable.

Yup, it's likely to be the convenient 2880x1620 for a 4.6MP total and a sizable 1.78 up-res to UHD. The funny thing is that, a year ago, I pontificated right here that there'd probably be several cameras that will be "faux 4K", i.e., something in the 2.5/2.8 MP range that will be converted to 4K by software ... never have I suspected that this "faux 4K" camera will be from ARRI. It was supposed to be on the low end of the range from the sub-$3K units.
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PS. This doesn't mean this particular solution made no sense. ARRI had to come up with the software based approach in order to buy some time until their 4K/6K Alexa replacement is ready. The high end market (F55/65, Dragon + a slew of the upcoming releases like Varicam, Cion, URSA ) has obviously beaten them to it.

All these cameras come with monochromatic sensors with a color filter array on top, mostly in a bayer pattern which means at some point they will have to be debayered. There is no such thing as a "real" 4k sensor without some sort of debayering or anti-aliasing. These are not marketing gimmicks, there's a reason some camera manufacturers use more resolution in their cameras, at some point you have to down res to get "real" whether it's in post or in camera.

ARRI's pretty bush league compared to Red, which explains why the alexa was used in multiple films nominated for an Oscar in cinematography and best picture while Red cameras weren't used in a single one.

You're thinking only in terms of specs. But just look at Alexa's image.. it's the "best" out there.. what I mean is that the colors and the dynamic range are 70% of everything that all the film buffs ever wanted (me too). Yes the resolving power of the Alexa cameras have been low in comparison to other manufacturers but when it comes to the image straight away from the camera the Alexa is the "best".

I have some hopes for the new Panasonic Varicam to have a very distinct image that could rival Alexa.. we'll see.

Dude... I love the Epic. Great camera, no doubt. But Arri is the industry leader, and there's not a snowball's chance in hell that they won't be the industry leader in 5 years. It only takes a day on any set on the west coast to understand that.

As I said, I believe in stats and not some marketing hype by some brainwashed wannabe filmmakers. When you can post better stats then I'll believe it, until then any camera less than 6K is not a camera to me.

You just forget one thing : Red cameras are unreliable, way more than any other cameras out there, it can just stop working on set for no reason, the media can disappear for no reason, the red one use to engage slow motion mode on its own. For most of their existence, Red Cameras have always been on Beta Firmware. The only shooting with Red are like the crew of Spider Man 3, the Hobbit or Gone Girl, you know why ? because they have ton and ton of backups camera in case on the Red fails, of course you will say that they have with watever cam they shoot on and that's true, but they have more back up cameras with Red and they know that because the system is not reliable they will use them often, way more often than if they shoot on an Alexa or a F55.

True, though it should be noted that this is a bayer pattern sensor. Even Red acknowledged that their 4K cameras may shoot 4K bayer data, but the resolved image is well below that, which is why they and Sony both went for above-4K cameras and why Arri made a 2.7K sensor for 2K finishing.

That being said, having seen Epic and Alexa footage blown up for IMAX, both looked great, so hopefully soon we'll move into not so much a hi-res future but a resolution-independent future where people shoot as many or as few Ks as they bloody well want!

I'd argue resolution already isn't as important as it has been made out to be. Delivering the full pixels of a sensor with no compression and excellent quantization can put a recording format ahead of one that records 4K with heavy compression.

4K is a marketing tool aimed at people who do not fully understand how digital video works.

This reminds me back when people compared computers based solely on CPU speed. Completely ignoring the GPU, HDD speed, RAM DDR, PCI bus, I/O port speed, software optimization. All of the things that add up to the total of what makes a fast computer.

Actually I saw them projected on 70mm at the London BFI IMAX, which is the largest screen in Britain. Both Alexa and Red footage look cleaner and IMHO just better than 35mm blown up for IMAX (obvs the actual 70mm footage was the undeniable image quality king).

The amount of trolls on this site has gone through the roof. There are plenty of people, including myself, who work in the industry and use these top tier cameras (it's just a job, like everything else). These resolution is paramount and Arri will be gone in 5 years people HAVE to be messing around trying to get a rise out of folks. Starting to move away from this site as a place for discussion.

I love reading all the stupid comments from keyboard jockeys. Reading that Arri will be gone as company makes me giggle till I pee. Either that person is just poking to get a rise out of others or they are completely brainwashed

It is not a UHD camera. It is not a "UHD enabled" camera. Anyone can up-scale footage in post, but that doesn't change their camera's native resolution. And for those who like to hide behind " resolution isn't everything": resolution IS everything when one is talking about and making claims for resolution. Do you know what the D stands for in UHD?

Yes it's not a UHD (3.8K) camera, it's a 3.4K camera. It's not the same as upscaling in post, the camera is actually using 3.4K pixels of it's sensor resolution and upscaling that to 3.8K UHD. This is not the same as upscaling 1080p to UHD at all.

To put it simply, the Amira just got an upgrade from 1080p to 3.4K. That's it. It's a lovely upgrade and noone should be sad about it.

Up-scaling in post is preferable in most instances, this "in camera" method is simply being sold as a labor saving device and not a superior way to up-scale. And who said anything about up-scaling from 1080? But since you bring it up, where does the buck stop when it comes to up-scaling and implying it's as good as native? The rot is setting in. Let's wait and see how well it resolves next to other UHD cameras.

William it's not upscaling from a 1080p image, it's upscaling from a 3.4k image, therefore the internal upscale is better than what you could do in post with the existing 1080p Amira. If the amira could output the 3.4K image for us to upscale in post, that would be better or the same as the internal upscale.

Simply put: what happened is that the Amira had a 3.4k sensor, but only allowed access to 2K of it, now with the new firmware, it's giving you access to the 3.4k resolution of its sensor and wraps it in a UHD ProRes container. It's not UHD, not 3.8K, it's 3.4K. Whether 3.4K is enough for your work is another subject. It's a very good upgrade in resolution, nothing to complain about.

Amira has a 3.4k sensor. It only utilizes 2.88k to downscale and create its HD and 2k image. In this new mode, the Amira will unlock only 3.2k of the 3.4k sensor (in order to maintain a 1.78 window as opposed to 1.55 if it were full open gate 3.4k) and apply the 1.2x upscale in order to create 3.8k (3840) UHD. It will not be upscaling from 3.4k. It is however still using the 1.2x algorithm Arri developed to make 3.4k full open gate to 4k (4096), but re using it to take Amira to UHD.

"Up-scaling in post is preferable in most instances, this “in camera” method is simply being sold as a labor saving device and not a superior way to up-scale. "

Not necessarily, I'd believe and suspect the debayering algorithms used in the Amira and going to upscale the image right from the sensor better than what would be done in post.

"But since you bring it up, where does the buck stop when it comes to up-scaling and implying it’s as good as native? The rot is setting in. Let’s wait and see how well it resolves next to other UHD cameras."

Most of the first HD format cameras upscaled, so this is not a new practice.

PS: Amira has a bayer sensor that Arri describes as a "3.5K pixel count delivers an optimum in image sharpness, sensitivity and latitude for HD and 2K DI workflows." Optimum for HD and 2K. It does not resolve anything like "4K" and an upscale won't help that. It will likely be a lovely enough image, but let's keep it real please.

"Optimum for HD and 2K. It does not resolve anything like “4K” and an upscale won’t help that. It will likely be a lovely enough image, but let’s keep it real please."

Keeping real, would recognize that every camera is recording "4K" very differently. Look past the simple marketing spin, "4K" is not a magic cure all.

None of the current 4K cameras are actually recording 4K pixel for pixel. The reason for that is that uncompressed 4K files are too big to be reasonably handled right now. Every 4K camera is compressed, some have slight compression, others more significant.

Most of them are subsampled or have a lower bit rate than the Amira or Alexa. 4K doesn't over come 422 chroma subsampling and certainly does not make up for an 8 bit depth rate.

Then what really makes a huge difference are the debayering and quantization algorithms, which Arri has hired some of the best engineers in the business.

If you want to keep it real, you have to look at all aspects of image making, not only one.

You do realize this was only implemented so that the camera could talk to 4K switchers in broadcast applications, particularly sports. Being downconverted to 1080p live for broadcast, and most likely spitting 720p out of your cable box.

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irst of all, I would like to say that is a camera system, like all the Arri models both digital and 35mm, with which the assistant cameraman feels very comfortable, since is easy to use, solid and reliable even in the most extreme shooting situation (here I have to be honest and tell that I din't work with it in very extreme conditions, but I know people that did and they got no trouble at all)
As I was saying, it is often considered the "Scarlet" of Arri, or his solution for low budget productions. And even if I'm not going to say that the Amira is as good as the Alexa (and their price point is a clear proof of that), I do believe that in many aspects the Amira is very close and at some point even better.

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